Large amounts of computer data are stored on optical media, such as Compact Disks (“CD”), Digital Video Disks (“DVD”) and Blue Ray Disks (“BD”). Software, digital photographs and sound files are frequently distributed on CDs and other optical media. Video typically ships on DVDs and BDs. Additionally, as storage capacity increases on modern optical media, publishers are using this additional capacity to ship applications and additional data along with video content. For example, a playback application might be included along with the video content on a DVD.
The access speed of optical media is orders of magnitude slower than that of magnetic media, due to the physical geometry of the optical media. Content is stored on optical media as a single continuous track which must be accessed sequentially. Thus, non-sequential access of a file stored on optical media involves scanning back and forth between non-sequential locations, which is inherently slow.
Security software scans files for signatures of known malware. This involves non-sequential access of the files being scanned. Conventional security software is not context aware, and scans to detect malware upon insertion of new media, including optical media, as well as when a file is launched from optical media. This requires non-sequential access of content on the optical media, which is slow and thus negatively impacts the user's experience.
It would be desirable to address these issues.